Sailing!

Have I ever mentioned my fascination with buying and selling used goods on craiglist!?!  Well, we recently bought a 15 foot dinghy and made it seaworthy so that we could teach the girls how to sail.  Okay, Jason made it seaworthy while the girls and I simply gave the boat a bubble bath.

Yesterday we took the girls sailing!  We launched the boat about 8:30 in the morning at Lake Woodlands, just as the rowing teams were coming back ashore.  The breeze was perfect for our sail, a calm and steady 5 to 8 knots.  They donned their life jackets with style, allowed me to slather them in sunscreen (check out this brand BabyGanics), and could hardly contain their excitement to step aboard our boat named Gigi.  ("Gigi" was the name the girls called one another for the longest time.)  We introduced the girls to nautical terms like "tack" and "jib sheet" and "high side".  The girls always managed to get to the high side (also the dry side) of the boat and consistently pointed in the direction of the wind when prompted.  They were agile and attentive; I am confident that they have what it takes to be All-American college sailors.  (No pressure from the parents, of course.)

Okay so now the connection to my blog:  sailing is green.  There are no batteries or fuel required to operate this  boat, only wind and muscle.  Sailing is this amazing opportunity to be outdoors with the breeze in your hair and the water splashing around you as you glide across the surface of the lake/bayou/ocean.  We created almost no environmental footprint, mostly joyful memories.